> 97  Jesus said, the [Father's] kingdom is like a woman who
> was carrying a [jar] full of meal. While she was walking
> along [a] distant road, the handle of the jar broke and the
> meal spilled behind her [along] the road. She didn't know
> it; she hadn't noticed a problem. When she reached her
> house, she put the jar down and discovered that it was
> empty.

I'm glad you included the saying. It's always easier to discuss
things when they're included in the email.

Thoughts:

As usual in Thomas the Kingdom is like a person. The
woman is not "at fault" here. Repeatedly (in a rather Markan
reiterative fashion) we hear that she did not know what was
happening.
She didn't break the jar, it just broke.
< She didn't know it;
> she hadn't noticed a problem.
> When she reached her
> house, she put the jar down and discovered that it was
> empty.

It's an event of discovery though, like the pearl and treasure
and fish. Instead of "Oh, wow!" I suppose the reaction would
be "Oh, damn!" Instead of "get rid of everything else and keep
what you discover" the response has to be "go do it all over
again." But the common element remains the shock of
discovery. So the kingdom is like a person who has that
sort of shock of discovery experience.

Steve

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People - please do not copy the entire message you're responding to! I know
it's easier, but it's not necessary, and it only makes more work for the
reader having to peruse the whole thing. This is especially true now that
we're getting advertising tacked onto our messages, and now that some folks
are sending HTML stuff. So, please, just cut and paste the part of the
message you're responding to. Thanks.

Mike
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Paul Miller wrote:

 "......perhaps the KOG would
be more "at hand" and more "within" and more relevant, and less diluted and distant.....

Shalom,
Lisa Grant -------------------------------------------

Nice to hear a woman's view on logion 97, after all the KOG is like a WOMAN who was carrying a jar full of meal. Lisa welcome to this young e mail list.
 
 

Paul Miller
 
 

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Text Only   at a glance   customer comments   if you like this book... Keyword Search Books Popular Music Classical Music Video Full search: Books, Music, or Video

The God of Jesus : The Historical Jesus and the Search for Meaning by Stephen J. Patterson Try express shopping with 1-ClickSM and Gift Click List Price: $20.00 Our Price: $16.00 You Save: $4.00 (20%) Availability: This title usually ships within 2-3 days. Paperback - 256 pages (May 1998) Trinity Pr Intl; ISBN: 1563382288 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.86 x 8.92 x 5.95 Amazon.com Sales Rank: 60,251 Avg. Customer Review: Number of Reviews: 2 Write an online review and share your thoughts with other readers! Customers who bought this book also bought: Jesus and Faith : A Conversation on the Work of John Dominic Crossan; Jeffrey Carlson(Editor), et al The Meaning of Jesus : Two Visions; Marcus J. Borg, N. T. Wright The Historical Jesus : A Comprehensive Guide; Gerd Theissen, Annette Merz Click here for more suggestions... Customer Comments Average Customer Review: Number of Reviews: 2 zzexum@... from Bisbee, AZ , November 19, 1998 One terrific book This is a superb book. Patterson, more than most, integrates the quest for the Jesus of history and the quest for God. I have learned much from Borg and Crossan and all the others, but Patterson pulls it all together with his own scholarship and love of the subject. His treatment of the parables and his discussion of the "Empire oF God" were especially helpful to me. Too often this subject is too academic, perhaps necessarily so, but Patterson steers us always to the important spiritual and faith questions. A reader from Missouri (USA) , September 3, 1998 Excellent and Readable Text Patterson’s discussion of the “Quest for the historical Jesus” and how this quest actually relates to the human search for God is perhaps the most readable text on the topic. Patterson’s text is much more than a dry, academic presentation, his own profound faith combines with strong New Testament scholarship. If one reads this book with an open mind, he or she will find her faith both challenged and strengthened in ways that move beyond the safe, academic environment of seminary and graduate school classrooms into the real world and real life. Patterson also does an excellent job correcting misconceptions and stereotypes about the work of the numerous and diverse scholars who participate in The Jesus Seminar, yet clearly is not afraid to challenge positions of his colleagues when he believes that the evidence warrants a differing conclusion from the consensus. Those who have not had the wonderful opportunity to study directly under Professor Patterson at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri will discover the warmth and vitality combined with excellent scholarship which have made his classes so very popular. Customers who bought titles by Stephen J. Patterson also bought titles by these authors: Marcus J. Borg John Dominic Crossan Gerd Theissen Burton L. Mack Richard A. Horsley Look for similar books by subject: Browse other Religion & Spirituality titles. Jesus Christ Historicity Biography History and criticism Desire for God Christology Religion - Theology - Biblical Religion Bible - Theology - New Testament Bible - Criticism Interpretation - New Testament i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ... I have read this book, and I want to review it. I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book. I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.

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Text Only   at a glance   customer comments Keyword Search Books Popular Music Classical Music Video Full search: Books, Music, or Video

The Fifth Gospel : The Gospel of Thomas Comes of Age by Stephen J. Patterson, James M. Robinson Try express shopping with 1-ClickSM and Gift Click List Price: $15.00 Our Price: $12.00 You Save: $3.00 (20%) Availability: This title usually ships within 2-3 days. Paperback - 128 pages (November 1998) Trinity Pr Intl; ISBN: 1563382490 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.36 x 5.54 x 8.47 Amazon.com Sales Rank: 774,155 Be the first person to review this book! Write an online review and share your thoughts with other readers! Customers who bought titles by Stephen J. Patterson also bought titles by these authors: Marcus J. Borg John Dominic Crossan Gerd Theissen Burton L. Mack Richard A. Horsley Look for similar books by subject: Browse other Literature & Fiction, Religion & Spirituality titles. Religion Religion - Church History Church History Antiquities & Archaeology Bible - Reference i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ... I have read this book, and I want to review it. I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book. I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.

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Shalom,
Lisa Grant

Cliff Hammond wrote:

 Or... that we are the woman, the jar, the meal, the path, the journey, [the birds of the field who eat the meal] and the stark realization that emptiness is form and form is within the emptiness - That the Kingdom of God *is* the context and its contents are "just as they are."

-cliff

Paul Miller wrote:

 

But life is a long journey and it is easy to slowly lose that KOG that you had as a child..leaking out bit by bit as you move along....but if you could again become as a little child...well, you get the picture. Jack--------------------------------------- I like this interpretation. Some of the logion are like Rorschach tests. Whats inside the person meshes with the logion and you get interpretation. Paul Miller

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_______________________________________________________________________________

97  Jesus said, the [Father's] kingdom is like a woman who was carrying a [jar] full of meal. While she was walking along [a] distant road, the handle of the jar broke and the meal spilled behind her [along] the road. She didn't know it; she hadn't noticed a problem. When she reached her house, she put the jar down and discovered that it was empty.

-Gospel of Thomas <http://home.epix.net/~miser17/Thomas.html>
_______________________________________________________________________________

http://www.angelfire.com/tx/cliffhammond/IntroPage.html
mailto:wycliffe@...

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-cliff

Paul Miller wrote:

 

But life is a long journey and it is easy to slowly lose that KOG that you had as a child..leaking out bit by bit as you move along....but if you could again become as a little child...well, you get the picture. Jack--------------------------------------- I like this interpretation. Some of the logion are like Rorschach tests. Whats inside the person meshes with the logion and you get interpretation. Paul Miller

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97  Jesus said, the [Father's] kingdom is like a woman who was carrying a [jar] full of meal. While she was walking along [a] distant road, the handle of the jar broke and the meal spilled behind her [along] the road. She didn't know it; she hadn't noticed a problem. When she reached her house, she put the jar down and discovered that it was empty.

-Gospel of Thomas <http://home.epix.net/~miser17/Thomas.html>
_______________________________________________________________________________

http://www.angelfire.com/tx/cliffhammond/IntroPage.html
mailto:wycliffe@...
 

-----Original Message-----
Date: Monday, December 28, 1998 6:43 PM
Subject: [gthomas] Re: WHAT KNOW YE


>You can find the most complete Gospel of Thomas material, including
>the complete text at http://www.epix.net/~miser17/thomas.html
>
>I expect that Stevan's Thomas website will be a "textbook" for this
>forum.
>
>Jack
>
I've already placed it among the favorites of my system.

Andre
Phoenix AZ



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A few of the folks on this list may be fairly new to the Gospel of Thomas so
I'm providing some links to GThomas material on the web.

The main stop for GTh info maintained by Stevan Davies
http://home.epix.net/~miser17/Thomas.html

  Mike Grondin's Interlinear Coptic/English Translation of the Gospel of
Thomas
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9068/x_transl.htm

The Greek Gospel of Thomas Texts maintained by Sytze Van Der Laan
http://huizen.dds.nl/~skirl/gk_gthom.htm

A good collection of Gospel of Thomas discussions from Crosstalk at the GTh
section of Andrew Bernhard's web page
http://www.teleport.com/~cabern/andrew/thomas/thomas.html

Stevan Davies also has a section on books dealing with GTh
http://home.epix.net/~miser17/books.html

If you know of some other good GTh links or books please feel free to share
that information.

Paul Miller




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anhang bill wrote:

> Seems like this is a unscholarly gang reporting here, so the question is
>
> > 2 Jesus saith, Let him who seeketh continue seeking until he
> >     findeth. When he findeth, he will be troubled at the contemplation
> >     of Truth, but when he hath passed through the time of trouble, he
> >     will be astonished at the glory of the Light, for the Way of Truth
> >     is the pathway to the Eternal Godhead and the price of the
> >     beautific vision is the wringing of the soul. He who would rise
> >     above all things must descend below all things, for the way to the
> >     heights passeth through the depths of anguish which generate the
> >     fires of Life. Blessed is the man who hath suffered and found
> >     Life.          Bologna!!!!!!!!
> >
>   is the above a correct quote from the gthomas

No!

You can find the most complete Gospel of Thomas material, including
the complete text at http://www.epix.net/~miser17/thomas.html

I expect that Stevan's Thomas website will be a "textbook" for this
forum.

Jack



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anhang bill wrote:

> Does anyone know what I am talking about
> when I ask for the author and work by someone who claimes he deciphered a
> new manuscrpit/gospel attributed to an interview with Jesus   in the days
> between  the presumed  resurrection and the "physical abscondin g    for
> good?"????
> Hence request author and publisher of same.

I think the interview was with Elvis (g)  In the meantime, I will confine my
discussions to Coptic and POxy Thomas...if that's OK with everyone.

Jack



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Does anyone know what I am talking about
when I ask for the author and work by someone who claimes he deciphered a
new manuscrpit/gospel attributed to an interview with Jesus   in the days
between  the presumed  resurrection and the "physical abscondin g    for
good?"????
Hence request author and publisher of same.



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Seems like this is a unscholarly gang reporting here, so the question is

> 2 Jesus saith, Let him who seeketh continue seeking until he
>     findeth. When he findeth, he will be troubled at the contemplation
>     of Truth, but when he hath passed through the time of trouble, he
>     will be astonished at the glory of the Light, for the Way of Truth
>     is the pathway to the Eternal Godhead and the price of the
>     beautific vision is the wringing of the soul. He who would rise
>     above all things must descend below all things, for the way to the
>     heights passeth through the depths of anguish which generate the
>     fires of Life. Blessed is the man who hath suffered and found
>     Life.          Bologna!!!!!!!!
>
   is the above a correct quote from the gthomas and  is there any evidence
that Jesus had been a recipient of the "Beatific Vision", as clearly the
writings imply it, and how many contemporary individuals claim the Vision.
I just visited a prison and  one of the guards seemed to know of it:  I was
reluctant to cross examine him.



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Paul Miller wrote:

> 12 The disciples said to Jesus, "We know that you are going to leave us. Who
> will be our leader?"
> Jesus said to them, "No matter where you are you are to go to James the
> Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being."
>
> Jack wrote:
> Logion 12 was voted black or gray by the JS and I thoroughly
> disagree.  It seems to me that the historicity of brother James
> taking over the driver's seat is a good indication that Logion
> 12 was spoken by Jesus.  ----------------------------------
>
> After finishing Painter's book "Just James" awhile back I can agree that the
> saying is early. Antonio Jerez on Crosstalk argued once that since the
> Gnostics highly regarded  the figure of James in their theology that logion
> 12 was late. It seems more likely that the 2nd century Gnostics were aware
> of James early pivotal role in the church.
>  This logion seems to possibly tie the Thomasine group in with the Jerusalem
> christians instead of them having any connection with the Pauline group.
>  Can anyone run down what the Jesus Seminar's rationale was for voting black
> on this?

I did discuss this with Mahlon Smith who said that the JS reasoning
was along the same lines as Antonio...albeit Mahlon disagreed if
I am not mistaken..but the vote was black.
Given the Thomasine community's origin in Syria, probably
Edessa, and the ties to the Jerusalem community..and given the
Synopticist's agenda to delegate Jesus' siblings and direct
disciples to obscurity...I accept 12 as genuine.  The evidence
of Ya'akov haTsaddik seeming to appear out of nowhere to
ramrod the Nazarenes is strong that this saying is genuine.

Jack


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But life is a long journey and it is easy to slowly lose that KOG that you
had as a child..leaking out bit by bit as you move along....but if you
could again become as a little child...well, you get the picture.

Jack---------------------------------------

I like this interpretation. Some of the logion are like Rorschach tests.
Whats inside the person meshes with the logion and you get interpretation.

Paul Miller



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12 The disciples said to Jesus, "We know that you are going to leave us. Who
will be our leader?"
Jesus said to them, "No matter where you are you are to go to James the
Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being."

Jack wrote:
Logion 12 was voted black or gray by the JS and I thoroughly
disagree.  It seems to me that the historicity of brother James
taking over the driver's seat is a good indication that Logion
12 was spoken by Jesus.  ----------------------------------

After finishing Painter's book "Just James" awhile back I can agree that the
saying is early. Antonio Jerez on Crosstalk argued once that since the
Gnostics highly regarded  the figure of James in their theology that logion
12 was late. It seems more likely that the 2nd century Gnostics were aware
of James early pivotal role in the church.
  This logion seems to possibly tie the Thomasine group in with the Jerusalem
christians instead of them having any connection with the Pauline group.
  Can anyone run down what the Jesus Seminar's rationale was for voting black
on this?

Paul Miller


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Logion 12 was voted black or gray by the JS and I thoroughly
disagree.  It seems to me that the historicity of brother James
taking over the driver's seat is a good indication that Logion
12 was spoken by Jesus.  The probability is that brother
Jimmy was with Jesus all along rather than getting a wake-up
call after the crucifixion.

Jack.


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Paul Miller wrote:

> Cliff Hammond brought up saying 97 in a recent post.
>
> 97 Jesus said, The [Father's] kingdom is like a woman who was carrying a
> [jar] full of meal. While she was walking along [a] distant road, the handle
> of the jar broke and the meal spilled behind her [along] the road. She
> didn't know it; she hadn't noticed a problem. When she reached her house,
> she put the jar down and discovered that it was empty.
>
> Macarius of Syria tells a similar story of a bag of sand that is leaking out
> through a tiny hole in the bag. This parable of the jar and meal, except for
> this one similarity, is known in the Gospel of Thomas only in early
> christian writings.
>  I believe the Jesus Seminar gave this parable a red or pink rating but I
> don't have the Five Gospels in front of me so I'm working from memory. What
> is the motivation of the author of this saying? What meaning is he trying to
> get across? How can this saying be placed in a historical context? Why is
> the Fathers Kingdom like the woman instead of just the jar of meal that
> becomes empty?

I believe this is a genuine Yeshuine saying (regardless of the JS).  Jesus
variously had said that the KOG was like a thief in the night and that
the KOG was here and all around..and in you, and that Children were
of the KOG.
But life is a long journey and it is easy to slowly lose that KOG that you
had as a child..leaking out bit by bit as you move along....but if you
could again become as a little child...well, you get the picture.

Jack


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Paul Miller wrote:

> Stephen Patterson and James Robinson have a new book on the GTh. Amazon info
> below:
>
> The Fifth Gospel : The Gospel of Thomas Comes of Age
> by Stephen J. Patterson, James M. Robinson
>  Paperback - 128 pages (November 1998)
> Trinity Pr Intl; ISBN: 1563382490 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.36 x 5.54 x
> 8.47
> Amazon.com Sales Rank: 774,155
> List Price: $15.00
> Our Price: $12.00
> You Save: $3.00 (20%)

Aaaaw Paul, my first message from the list and ya cost me
some more book money (g).

Jack


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Stephen Patterson and James Robinson have a new book on the GTh. Amazon info
below:

The Fifth Gospel : The Gospel of Thomas Comes of Age
by Stephen J. Patterson, James M. Robinson
  Paperback - 128 pages (November 1998)
Trinity Pr Intl; ISBN: 1563382490 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.36 x 5.54 x
8.47
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 774,155
List Price: $15.00
Our Price: $12.00
You Save: $3.00 (20%)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1563382490/qid=914866983/sr=1-1/002-7
675820-0960842

Stephen Patterson also has out:

  The God of Jesus : The Historical Jesus and the Search for Meaning
by Stephen J. Patterson
  List Price: $20.00
Our Price: $16.00
You Save: $4.00 (20%)

Availability: This title usually ships within 2-3 days.

Paperback - 256 pages (May 1998)
Trinity Pr Intl; ISBN: 1563382288 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.86 x 8.92 x
5.95


Paul Miller













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Cliff Hammond brought up saying 97 in a recent post.

97 Jesus said, The [Father's] kingdom is like a woman who was carrying a
[jar] full of meal. While she was walking along [a] distant road, the handle
of the jar broke and the meal spilled behind her [along] the road. She
didn't know it; she hadn't noticed a problem. When she reached her house,
she put the jar down and discovered that it was empty.

Macarius of Syria tells a similar story of a bag of sand that is leaking out
through a tiny hole in the bag. This parable of the jar and meal, except for
this one similarity, is known in the Gospel of Thomas only in early
christian writings.
  I believe the Jesus Seminar gave this parable a red or pink rating but I
don't have the Five Gospels in front of me so I'm working from memory. What
is the motivation of the author of this saying? What meaning is he trying to
get across? How can this saying be placed in a historical context? Why is
the Fathers Kingdom like the woman instead of just the jar of meal that
becomes empty?

Paul Miller





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Since this group is new, I cannot let Cliff Hammond's note go unanswered,
lest some folks take it to be an exemplar of the kind of stuff to be
expected here. To reiterate the description of this group:

  A list for the scholarly discussion of the Gospel of Thomas.
  The dating of the Gospel of Thomas, stratification of the text,
  dependence on or independence of the gospels, possible genre,
  motivation of author(s), and GThomas and form criticism are a
  few possible topics. A certain amount of general (non scholarly),
  discussion will be encouraged, particularly if this discussion
  sheds any light on the text of GThomas.

Admittedly, about half of Cliff's note can arguably be considered
"scholarly". The other half is simply Buddhist-believer hogwash, which
tells us a lot about what Cliff believes, but little about GThom. (Let us
now meditate on a proposition whose presuppositions are false: "How tall is
the brother you never had?")

Now I don't want to be misunderstood as saying that an exploration of the
connections between Buddhist thought and the thinking behind GThom is not a
scholarly pursuit, or that it cannot be handled in a scholarly fashion. But
approaching the subject without taking any care at all to bracket off one's
religious belief (whether it be Christian or Buddhist) is certainly not a
scholarly approach.

Mike
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We might send copy to the seminaries where the scholars are, give them a personal invitation, etc.  Another idea is to promote the list among Buddhists who were formerly raised Christian.  I suggest this because in finding the Gospel of Thomas I as NOT surprised at how Zen Buddhist/Mahayanan Buddhist the sayings of Jesus sound (Q source also, I would bet).  I was so impressed at the "Gnostic" reality that the Kingdom of God is within and without in this very moment - Where lived the Great I AM, the "Living God" that I have copied several of the quotations and filed them alongside my Buddhist signature files to be used when posting to Dzogchen, Karma Kagyu e-mail lists as well as to alt.zen and alt.buddha.short.fat.guy.

Probably not a surprise to many, the Mahayana movement of Buddhism was begun in India shortly before the time of Jesus of Nazareth.  The Mahayanan influence has been lasting and perhaps the greatest development in Buddhism since the time of Sakyamuni.  It encourages the dharma practitioner(seeker of truth), once s/he has awakened to the glorious present and to the Buddha-nature within, to "carry the message," if you will, to others. Recognizing that we have been socialized into a zeitgeist - that our "selves" are wholly a culturally bound social construction - it makes sense at the most profound level of spiritual functionality that we should dedicate ourselves to the salvation of others if we are to become as "children of God" ourselves and are to be successful at transcending the world while at the same time living in the world.  Isn't this exactly the mission of Jesus? That we should all be the children of God.  ["The kingdom of God is among you!"  Stay awake!" - how utterly Buddhist!].

With that, I have a question for the Historical Jesus scholars among us.  We know that Buddhist monasteries were springing up in the Middle East, Asia Minor, Turkey, Syria, etc., and North Africa, during the time of Jesus.  And we can assume, looking at the quotations attributed to him that Jesus was also a product of the zeitgeist of his time, very Hebrew and somewhat withdrawn from the Hellinizing culture of Rome, a Rome which eventually moved into Jerusalem with the full force of oppression to squech her independent spirit.  But Jesus transcended his Hebrew culture in the way of genius that even Paul, who had been Hellinized - born in Greece - could not appreciate (in my opinion). He transcended the world, the zeitgeist.  Perhaps the writer of John understood him in a way akin to a Mahayanan influence without actually being formally so himself.  I understand that I, like many others, risk the folly of my own projections, but is there a possibility that the Therapeuts (a healing-focused subset of the Esseans), the Esseans, and the Mahayanan Buddhists were interacting in a way that brought an Eastern influence into the Gnostics and to Jesus himself, an influence that was neither understood by his disciples nor appreciated by Paul of Tarsus and the Hellinic Christian Orthodoxy of the second and third centuries over which Paul triumphed through evangilization?

Here is one of the "scriptures" from Thomas that I have included in my signature files because of its effect on my understanding when I used it in the style of Rinsai Zen meditation yesterday (eg., "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" Or "Show me your true face - the face you had before your parents were born.).  This GThomasian quotation led for me to a holy and profound emptiness (sunyata) and oneness.  It has introduced  to me the efficacy of the parable when used like a "koan" (like the examples I quoted above) - only parables are probably used in a more classically contemplative manner, guessing from this one's effects.  I would also guess that the parables of Jesus - the ones from the Synoptic Gospels with which we are the most familiar - are, in fact, so familiar that what I *experience* to be possibly an original meditative function of the parable device is no longer in wide usage in modern Christianity because they have all been converted by the culture into cognitive operations rather than the ontological seeds or sparks of light they seem to have once been.  The kingdom of God is among you! [I'll bet the Trapists discovered their function centuries ago].

The function of the parable as we know this device today has been described as providing only one point - a point which renders cognitive understanding and an operation which came into the zeitgeist post-Descartes.  But the one point of this particular parable when used in meditation opens to the "one pointedness" of the Dharma! The Tao! The Kingdom of God! The loins of I AM THAT I AM! Under the Shadow of His Wing! Sunyata!  MU! etc..  So, I will not make the mistake of stealing away from you this great experience, giving you instead an empty and loquacious commentary.  Instead, as Jesus must have done, I will leave you sitting in meditation, following the experiencing of your breath in this moment and holding in your hearts this jar, this woman, the meal left along the road, the emptiness of the jar and its broken handle.  How divine is its teaching!

gassho,

-cliff hammond

97 Jesus said, the [Father's] kingdom is like a woman who was carrying a [jar] full of meal. While she was walking along [a] distant road, the handle of the jar broke and the meal spilled behind her [along] the road. She didn't know it; she hadn't noticed a problem. When she reached her house, she put the jar down and discovered that it was empty.

--Gospel of Thomas <http://home.epix.net/~miser17/Thomas.html>
_______________________________________________________________________________

http://www.angelfire.com/tx/cliffhammond/IntroPage.html
mailto:wycliffe@...
 
 

Paul Miller wrote:

 

Heres an update on what I've done so far to promote the list GThomas. I have listed it with PAML, Liszt, and Yahoo, these three should take about a week or two to process and be listed on their sites. Information on the list has been posted to Crosstalk and Diftx-l, both e mail based discussion groups. I have also posted info to a Quaker and a Gnostic newsgroup. Last time I checked we had 11 list members in 24 hours of existence so it looks like there is plenty of interest in the Gospel of Thomas.  Please post any ideas you have for promoting this list. To post to GThomas:  GThomas@egroups.com Cheers Paul Miller

---

Heres an update on what I've done so far to promote the list GThomas. I have
listed it with PAML, Liszt, and Yahoo, these three should take about a week
or two to process and be listed on their sites. Information on the list has
been posted to Crosstalk and Diftx-l, both e mail based discussion groups. I
have also posted info to a Quaker and a Gnostic newsgroup. Last time I
checked we had 11 list members in 24 hours of existence so it looks like
there is plenty of interest in the Gospel of Thomas.
  Please post any ideas you have for promoting this list.

To post to GThomas:  GThomas@egroups.com

Cheers
Paul Miller


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Please be patient with the low list traffic at first. This is the first day
of the list GThomas so it may take some little time before the list numbers
are high enough to field a good discussion. There are several folks signed
up already! Please feel free to ask anything to the list.

cheers
Paul Miller


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A list for the scholarly discussion of the Gospel of Thomas. The dating of the
Gospel of Thomas, stratification of the text, dependence on or independence of
the gospels, possible genre, motivation of author(s), and GThomas and form
criticism are a few possible topics. A certain amount of general (non
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